The Portal Podcast: Bringing Academia to Social Work Practice

In this episode, Sarah and Lesley reflect upon and chat about Season 3 of The Portal Podcast. We consider some of the key threads that have run through each of the conversations and reflect on the key messages for practice.Click here to access the transcript for this episode.

In this episode, Sarah and Lesley spoke with Sigrid Mairhofer about her research exploring social work with older people in rural and urban areas of Germany. We learned about how social work operates in Germany, as well as some of the challenges social workers face in supporting older people. About our guest:Sigrid Mairhofer is a Professor of Community and Organisational Development at the Munich University of Applied Sciences.Click here to access the transcript for this episode.

In this episode we spoke to Sally Nieman who has undertaken research to explore the role of social work in care homes. Sally spoke to us about the intersection of social work and care homes, how social workers support older people in these settings, and some of the challenges that social workers experience in these roles. Key learning and recommendations for social workers were also discussed.  About our guest:Sally Nieman is a social worker in adult social care and a social work education lead. Sally, at the time of recording, was also finishing her PhD at the University of Suffolk.Further Information:You can find more information about Sally’s work by clicking on the following:Shining a Light on Social Work with Older People in Care HomesRevisioning social work with older people living in a care home: Promoting rights and reducing control.Click here to access the transcript for this episode.

In this episode, Sarah and Lesley spoke with Alisoun Milne about family carers and older people. We discussed ageing and mental health, the impact of caring, the need to challenge existing narratives around family carers, and much more besides.  About our guest:Alisoun Milne is an Emeritus Professor in Social Gerontology and Social Work at the University of Kent. Before becoming an academic, Alisoun worked as a social worker and team manager in two local authorities in London for 7 years.Further Information:Within the podcast a number of publications were mentioned. Please see below for links to these and to find out more about Alisoun’s work on family caring.Milne, A., & Larkin, M. (2023). Family Carers and Caring: What it’s all about. Emerald.Milne, Alisoun (2020) Mental Health in Later Life: Taking a Life Course Approach. Policy Press, Bristol.To view all of Alisoun Milne’s publications please visit this link: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/view/email/a=2Ej=2Emilne=40kent=2Eac=2Euk.html#group_bookAlso mentioned was Lesley’s paper, “A Neoliberalist solution for a neoliberalist problem: The neoliberalist normalization of psycho-social support for parent-carers”. Click here to access the transcript for this episode.

In this episode, Sarah and Lesley speak with Carrie Phillips about her research into hospital social work. Carrie talks about the key learning from her work, including the number of social workers employed in these roles, their day to day work, and some of the challenges that they experience when working with older people in a hospital setting. About our guest:Carrie Phillips is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Sunderland. Before joining the university Carrie practiced in statutory social work with adults for over 12 years.Click here to access the transcript for this episode.

In this episode, Sarah and Lesley spoke with Nick Andrews about social work research with older people and the value of story telling. Nick shared learning from his extensive work including discussing relationships and professional boundaries, ‘undercover’ kindness, outcomes-focused and holistic practice, and much more.About our guest:Nick Andrews is a registered social worker and Research Officer at Swansea University with many years’ experience in social work, social care, and social education across children and adult services. Click here to access the transcript for this episode.

In this episode Sarah and Lesley introduce season three of the Portal Podcast. This series we have focused on social work with older people and were joined by guests who are all researching this area of social work practice. This episode introduces our guests with a brief overview of the conversations we had with each of them.Click here to access the transcript for this episode.

In this episode, Sarah and Lesley reflect upon and chat about Season 2 of The Portal Podcast. We consider some of the key threads that have run through each of the conversations and reflect on the key messages for practice.Click here to access the transcript for this episode.The music is called “Together We’re Stronger” by All Music Seven (All7 Studios) (you can listen to their music here).Production and editing by Paperghosts.The Portal Podcast is funded by the University of Sunderland.